Do I ship it?

GamesPvPPvP + Diplomacy

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a PvP Diplomacy game?

PvP + Diplomacy

Only 10 developers shipped a PvP Diplomacy game in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Sid Meier's Civilization VII, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 44 more are announced, ×8.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 8 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $120k, ×83 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $6.0k; 1 in 20 cleared $94M, ×62779 the market median. Revenue is up 165% on the market; 44 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 82.6 times the market baseline, revenue up 165% on the market, 44 announced, ×8.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
PvP + Diplomacy
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 10
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $2.7M → $32k → $85k → $539 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for PvP + Diplomacy: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 10
Bottom 30% $6.0k (exactly $5,992)
Median $124k (exactly $123,737)
Top 25% $779k (exactly $779,220)
Top 5% $94M (exactly $94,043,463)
Developers, 2 yr 10
Released games 59
Announced 44
Effort 8 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $9.99

momentum: how a niche's revenue percentiles and developer count moved between two equal, adjacent periods, divided by the market's own move. See method., 12 months: revenue up 165% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.

Free games: 25%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

Can AI deliver it?

AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.

PvP
effort 8 / 10 · low · authoritative servers, latency compensation, cheating
Diplomacy
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
8 / 10 · online systems, open world
Systems
PvP, Diplomacy
Price point
$9.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 9 games average 54% positive over 53,260 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $6.0k, median $120k, 1 in 4 over $770k, 1 in 20 over $94M.

3 in 10 developers made under $6.0k. 4 in 10 of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 44 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year, ×8.8 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

PvP with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + BaseballFair6 devs · median $7.6k · 9 announced
  2. + TransportationFair10 devs · median $5.7k · 11 announced
  3. + BasketballFair25 devs · median $2.6k · 28 announced
  4. + Football (American)Fair17 devs · median $1.8k · 12 announced
  5. + BikesFair10 devs · median $1.5k · 7 announced
  6. + GolfFair29 devs · median $1.4k · 34 announced
  7. + World War IFair12 devs · median $1.3k · 14 announced
  8. + IncrementalFair36 devs · median $1.2k · 48 announced
  9. + BilliardsFair18 devs · median $1.1k · 12 announced
  10. + TennisLong shot17 devs · median $899 · 15 announced
  11. + TypingLong shot28 devs · median $719 · 31 announced
  12. + SpellingLong shot14 devs · median $719 · 17 announced

All 247 pairs on the PvP page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Sid Meier's Civilization VII $69.99 44,789 48% 1.3M $94M (exactly $94,043,463) Firaxis Games
Dune: Spice Wars older $34.99 11,561 79% 347k $12M (exactly $12,135,582) Shiro Games
Millennia older $39.99 2,976 67% 89k $3.6M (exactly $3,570,307) C Prompt Games
Star Trek: Infinite older $29.99 3,030 41% 91k $2.7M (exactly $2,726,091) Nimble Giant Entertainment
The Battle of Polytopia older $14.99 4,731 94% 142k $2.1M (exactly $2,127,531) Midjiwan AB
DEFCON older $11.99 3,460 86% 104k $1.2M (exactly $1,244,562) Introversion Software
Dummynation older $11.99 3,127 88% 94k $1.1M (exactly $1,124,782) Alejandro Hernández Ferrero
A Game of Thrones: The Board Game - Digital Edition older $19.99 1,705 71% 51k $1.0M (exactly $1,022,488) Dire Wolf
Medieval Kingdom Wars older $14.99 2,233 76% 67k $1.0M (exactly $1,004,180) Reverie World Studios
Guilty as Sock! $5.50 4,836 89% 145k $798k (exactly $797,940) Demon Max
Age of History 2: Definitive Edition $9.99 2,600 83% 78k $779k (exactly $779,220) Łukasz Jakowski
Rise of Piracy · EA $15.99 520 77% 16k $249k (exactly $249,444) IrishJohnGames
States of Power $11.99 344 88% 10k $124k (exactly $123,737) Sarunas
Renaissance Kingdom Wars $19.99 141 70% 4.2k $85k (exactly $84,558) Reverie World Studios
Nuice Industries · EA $7.99 25 96% 750 $6.0k (exactly $5,992) CastleWind
Fleetfall - Galaxy Domination $5.99 3 100% 90 $539 (exactly $539) Purple Owl
RUPTURR · EA $5.99 2 100% 60 $359 (exactly $359) Aikon Interactive
PingWin $0.99 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) GameBit Hubert Klich

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.